John and Bobby have been dating for eight years, married for almost five. But it was only a couple years ago they decided to leave Xavier's school to settle down on their own. They now live in a small town in Wisconsin, it's just them two but Bobby has been wanting to expand their family. He just isn't quite sure how to bring it up to John, they never get around to talking about kids. Pyro is good with children though, it's older teenagers and adults he doesn't quite get along with. So maybe he'll want this too—
"I got it" Bobby says as rises from his seat to grab John's plate. They just got done finishing up dinner after a very long day of running errands. "I'm so ready for bed" John groans as he stretches his arms above his, his shirt slightly lifting above his waist band. Bobby laughs a little as he brings the dishes over to the sink. It's only 7pm since when did they start going to bed early like old people?? John suddenly comes up behind Iceman, his arms wrapping around his husband's waist. "Let's go to sleep" he speaks, slightly pleading as he nuzzles his face in Bobby's neck. The other man smiles warmly, the hot water running over his hands as he cleans a plate. It's always nice when John gets like this.
He's never really affectionate, at least not in this way- "I have to take a shower first". Pyro lets out a muffled groan of disapproval, his arms tightening around Bobby's waist like he doesn't want him to leave. John places a chaste kiss against his neck before shifting to kiss the back of his head. Bobby knows exactly what he's trying to do, silently convince him to just go straight to bed- it's working, it always works. Especially when John is being, well when John is showing he loves him. He hears the words from him a lot, they say it often but it's always nice to feel and see it in other ways- "Hey.. there's something I've been wanting to talk about" Bobby's tone sounds hesitant.
The words make Pyro feel a bit uneasy, usually they are accompanied by something not good. He takes a step back to release him from his grasp letting Bobby turn around. "Johnny, no it's nothing bad I promise" Bobby quickly says, reaching for his hand to hold. I guess the uneasy feeling is clear on John's face. Iceman's thumb rubs over the tops of his fingers, a small soothing gesture. "I want to talk about possibly adopting, we've never really talked about kids". John can't say he didn’t necessarily see this conversation coming up one day but he definitely isn't ready for it to happen now- Pyro pulls his hand away so he can walk over to the dining table, which instantly has Bobby worrying.
He doesn't say anything at first though, instead he gives him a minute to think about it. But John knows his answer, he always has- kind of, it's complicated. It's not that he doesn't like kids, he just doesn't wanna be a father. Well more like he's scared to be one- John turns around as he leans against the table, his eyes aren’t quite meeting Bobby's though. "Do you not want kids"? Bobby finally speaks up, his own eyes trying to catch the other boys. "I'd be a shitty dad", John sighs as he runs his hands over his face. So many unpleasant memories and feelings are bubbling to the surface. Bobby makes his way across the kitchen over to him; "John you aren't your father".
It's weird that Bobby knows exactly what he's thinking. It's almost uncomfortable how well they know each other now, how they let each other see the vulnerable parts of themselves. At least it is for Pyro as he isn't one to let his walls down- "I'm just like my father, we both know that" John says with a slight laugh like he is joking, but he isn't. Him and his father carry the same anger, I guess you can say it's passed down through generations. And maybe you can even say John has more anger, he's gone through so much and instead of healing from those things he carries it until all the pain turns into anger. And well the anger has to escape at some point, in some way. He's hurt a lot of people, not just mentally also physically.
A 17 year old boy shouldn't have had deaths on his hands. John will say those police officers deserved it for threatening them which is true, but he also knows it felt so good to let that anger out and when he should've stopped he didn't- His dad let out his anger by hurting John, and other people. Mostly John though. Who's to say he won't end up the same way? No he doesn't think about hurting kids, the thought of it sickens him but the apple doesn't fall far from the tree- "I know you, come on, I basically grew up with you I know you're a good person and you'll be a great father" Bobby's tone is so gentle and soft, god and the way he looks at you makes everything feel like it's gonna be okay. Now John knows for a fact Bobby will be a great dad, he deserves to be one if that's what he wants.
"John you aren't him" Iceman repeats, this time with more enthusiasm. Under the hard-ass attitude Bobby knows he can be sweet and loving, he just experienced it not even 10 minutes ago. Even when they fight John doesn't get very angry with him, I mean when they were teenagers that was a different story but he's grown up. He's learned. "I don't wanna fuck them up like my dad did with me" John fiddles with the end of his sleeve as he speaks- he feels like he can't put all the blame on his dad though, it's partly his fault for not changing when he first noticed he isn't a good person- "your dad wasn't a good person but he did not fuck you up, I like you the way you are".
Those words just make John bark out a laugh; "I think I recall you saying a few hundred times how much of an annoying asshole I am", John says through a slight grin like he's proud of it. And well Bobby can't disagree with that. "That's true but you're not a shitty person you're just— you're you and there's nothing bad about that, maybe occasionally annoying but not bad" Iceman steps closer to him so he can grasp his hand, he unconsciously rubs his thumb over the tops of his husbands fingers again. John definitely doesn't agree with what he's saying but Bobby believes it so maybe, just maybe it's true- it's not just the whole abuse thing he's scared of, it's also the fact he knows he isn't a good role model. Why would he want to raise kids to be like him?
Everyone at the school couldn't stand him, they all looked at him like he was just too different to belong there. Because he was angry, annoying, bitter, got into trouble, never listened and so much more. And well he hasn't quite changed at all. He doesn't want his kids to turn out like him. Bobby is how they should turn out, he's a good person. Everyone loves him- "if you don't want to do this I completely understand, we don't have to, I'm happy with it just being us two" Bobby adds on. He wants a family but if John doesn't want it then that's okay cause right now them two is enough. It always has been and always will be. "Maybe we could get an animal before we try to keep a living human being alive" there's a slight chuckle when John suggests his idea.
It honestly isn't about keeping the kid alive, he just isn't ready to take that big of a step. Easing into it might make him less scared plus give Bobby a bigger family in a way. And Iceman doesn't think it's a bad idea, if an animal is too much for John or both of them then they know maybe kids aren't the best idea. "What kind of animal are you thinking"? There’s two stray cats living around their neighborhood, an old couple down the street feeds them but never brought them inside so maybe they can give the cats a home— “what about those two cats in our neighborhood, we can give them a home” John puts out there. Bobby swoops in to give him a quick kiss, accompanied with a smile; “see you’re a good person”.
They do just that, it takes a bit to catch the cats as they aren’t used to humans but Bobby gains their trust through lots of treats. Now they have two cats, both females but no idea the breed. Honestly probably very mixed as they are strays— for a whole year Bobby doesn’t even bring up kids again, he wants John to be the one, when he is ready. He does find ways to secretly bring it up like visiting friends with babies just to try and convince Pyro without actually saying anything. Eventually everything works out— honestly Iceman isn’t expecting to ever have the whole kids conversation again and he’s fine with that; everything is great right now with just them two and the cats. But surprisingly out of nowhere John tells Bobby he’s ready.
So after a lot of paperwork and home checks and all kinds of stuff they adopt Eliza when she is only a few months old. They don’t know much about her birth parents just that the mom wasn't fit to be one and the dad wasn’t in the picture— the first couple months, well maybe the first whole year is hectic as they have no idea what they are doing. But all of John’s worries fade when he first holds her. He’s held babies before but this is so much different, because this is his kid, his daughter. When Eliza is around four years old they decide one more kid can’t hurt, plus she’s been asking for a little brother or sister since she started understanding what that even meant— so they adopt a baby boy at birth, his name is Everette. Everette’s parents are teenagers and aren’t in a good spot to have a kid so they went for the adoption route. When Bobby and John meet Everette at the hospital after his birth they tell the parents that if they ever wanna see Everette they can just call.
Well Bobby says that, John is already in protective mode and doesn’t want anyone taking his kid— Everette is a really hard baby, he is colic and even after he grows out it he is still very fussy, they spend a lot of nights taking turns sleeping because he is so hard to put down. And oh my god people lie when they call it terrible two’s, because they start at one and don’t end for years. Let’s just say even if they want more kids they are done with two. But just because Everette is a hard kid it doesn’t mean they love him any less, they love him just as much as they love Eliza. And Eliza loves her baby brother so much— John is glad he didn’t let his fear stop him, cause he wouldn’t trade this for anything. And the only reason he made the choice to go through with it is because of Bobby. He replaced every bad feeling John had with something good, he taught him that just because his dad was a shitty person doesn’t mean he will also be one. That he can be different, he is different.
And well finally having kids made him realize there was no reason to worry. He loves those two more than anything and will do absolutely anything for them. And yeah deep down it makes John think that maybe his dad didn’t love him and that’s why he did the things he did to him. But it doesn’t matter now..